Car construction



Sept; 18, 1945. F. DITCHFIELD CAR CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 21, 1945 Patented Sept. 18, 1945 he PATEIN creme I oiin'e'o-NsTimerrojivr rwnkinmhneiag Gleveland; Ohiogassighor toi'llie g lloungstown .Steel --Door Company, 1 Cleveland. .Ohio, at-corporation of Ohio Application ct0ber 21, 1943 Serial No. fiil'lilfii '9 claims. (cums-.418) l :s'inve'ntiomrelates'to'car construction'and is'c oric'erned primarily "with the securement of greater -strength" of 'side s'ills' for railway house cars, particularly at the door openings in'such "cars. I

"The f: standard ,AAR "construction for railway house cars einbodiesanangle side sill'having unequal'lgs. flheflarg'er'of the legs is arranged verticallyahd 'provides meansi to which the. car side posts andthe metallic "sheathing'a'resecured. This leg extendsabove the 'floorof" the caif'so that it isnece'ssaryto'cutfofi the projecting portion in the "door opening formed in the side wall of thelcars. "Thisfoperation reduces the section'of ithe side"'si'll"and therebyirnpairs its strength. ."Many' side' sills'of' thisficharacter have been fourid which in 's'ervicehad developedcracks beginning in the"cornersiormedloy: the removal oi the indicated: portions or i thewertical" leg.

Itis .an obje ct'of'this invention to provide a construction forzrailway "house" cars "embodying a side sill havinganpstanding leg wherein said l g 'iS' maintained intact; so that 'siih'stantiallyithe full section or 'said sillf is obtained" in the .door opening formedlinthe sidewall or seen cars.

A further obj'ectTis to provide a I construction whibh shall utilize the standard 'AAR angle side sillhut which .shall. eliminate coping of the verticalle'g thereof andmaintain substantially the full section of said angle throughout its entire length.

A further object is to provide a novel side sill for railway house cars.

A further object is to provide a novel side sill for railway house cars which shall substantially overcome the tendency of cracking of the AAR side sill.

A further object is to provide a novel side sill of the character indicated which shall serve as a threshold plate.

Other objects of the invention will become clear as the description thereof proceeds.

In the drawing forming part of this specification:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevation, with parts broken away, of a railway house car provided with a, side sill embodying the instant invention as viewed from the inside of the car, the floor being omitted.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1, the floor being included.

Referring to the drawing, there is disclosed a portion of a side wall construction of a railway house car II]. A door opening ll formed in the side wall of the car is defined in part by mean or? from and rear door "posts l2 1 and is and"afloolr l4. "'Thefdoofpostshre fof the wen known "AAR type are genera-11y "channelshapew insefction. r ier front-door post r: embodies'a' longer leg f 5"to which rne'tallicf sheathin ieisrastenea a webjii arid a"sho'rter 'and inwardly disposed leg l8. Slmilarlyfthd rear'door p'ost l 3 embodies "a longer leg i9 to which the metallic sheathing" is; is secured, azweb zu and an inwardly disposed: shorterlegz l. J

The front andfrearf door'ho stsf l2; a'ndl'3 are ecured. toa-si'ae sin 622' which" embodies" the ins'tant invention. he secure ent or the 1 door posts to the side sill 'niay be hadin any desired manner, the securernent 'ill'ustrated "being by means ofgusset' plates? 3 and disposed Betwee the metallic sheathing l6 and the longer legs l5 am) 19; or; the doorfposts and preferably riveted totneisneatni and to thesaid' legs of the. door postsa'ridjto the 'up's'tafiding leg 25 6f the side iri "Theside sill 22 is' preferably, though hot'ncssarily, I'for'r'r'id "by means of "an angle member which: 'embodiesithe upstandingleg Z5 aridflthe inwardly 'directedhoriiontal leg 26. The s'ecurerrint'fof a silrreinforcln'g member"?! torthe lsi de s'ilIZi isTCiistoinariIy' obtainedb'y 'means'tr rivetmg. the ho'ri'zontalleg2811f, the remrorcing m'emterrains"hoiizontarlgfzs ofthe sidesill. "Adiacent to each of the'door posts" the upstandinglg 25 of the side sill is turned downwardly and inwardly to form similar sloping flanges 29 and 30 which, as more clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing, progressively increase in width from the top of the vertical leg to points above the horizontal leg 26 of the sill. Between these points the upstanding leg 25 of the side sill provides a horizontal flange 3| integral with the sloping flanges 29 and 30 and of substantially uniform width. The portion of the upstanding leg of the side sill below the horizontal flange 31 extends substantially to the top of the floor l4 whereby the horizontal flange 3| serves as a threshold plate for the floor. The flange 3| is formed with a plurality of openings 32 and 33 which serve to permit riveting of the horizontal legs 26 and 28 of the side sill and side sill reinforcement.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that in the illustrated and preferred embodiment of the invention the entire section of the side sill is maintained and its strength preserved, particularly through the door opening.

It will be apparent that numerous changes and modifications in the details of the invention will be clear to those skilled in the art. It is intended, therefore, that all such modifications and changes be comprehended within this invention, which is to be limited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. In a railway house car having a floor, spaced door posts, a side sill, said sill having an upstanding leg extending substantially from end to end of said car, said leg from said posts to the ends of said car extending above said floor, said leg being flanged between points adjacent to said posts, said flange gradually sloping downward and inward from said points to said posts and being horizontal from post to post, said horizontal portion of said flange being adapted to lie upon said floor, and means securing said posts to' said sill.

2. In a railway house car having a floor, spaced door posts, a side sill, said sill having an upstanding leg extending substantially from end to end of said car, said leg from said posts to the ends of said car extending above said floor, said leg being flanged between points adjacent to said posts, said flange gradually sloping downward and inward and progressively increasing in width from said points to said posts, said flange being horizontal and of uniform width from post to post, said horizontal portion of said flange being adapted to serve as a threshold plate for said floor, and means securing said posts to said sill.

3. In a railway house car having a floor, spaced door posts, a side sill, said sill having an upstanding leg extending substantially from end to end of said car, said leg from post to post being turned downwardly and inwardly to provide a threshold plate for said floor, and means securing said posts to said sill.

4. In a railway house car having a floor, spaced door posts, a side sill'having an upstanding leg and an inwardly directed leg extending substantially from end to end of said car, a reinforcement for said sill having an inwardly directed leg, means securing said inwardly directed legs together, said upstanding leg from post to post being turned downwardly and inwardly to provide a threshold plate for said floor overlying said inwardly directed leg of said sill, openings in said threshold plate to permit securement of said inwardly directed legs by themeans therefor, and means securing said posts to said sill.

5. In a railway house car having a floor, spaced door posts, a side sill having an upstanding leg and an inwardly directed leg extending substantially from end to end of said car, a reinforcement for said sill having an inwardly directed leg, means securing said inwardly directed legs together, said upstanding leg from said posts to the ends of said car extending above said iloor, said upstanding leg being flanged between points adjacent to said posts, said flanges gradually sloping downwardly and inwardly from said points to said posts and being horizontal from post to post to provide athreshold plate for said floor overlying said inwardly directed leg of said sill, openings in said threshold plate to permit securement of said inwardly directed legs by the means therefor, and means securing said posts to said sill.

6. A side sill comprising an intermediate channel-shaped portion, end portions each embodying an upstanding leg extending above said channelshaped portion, and'portions sloping downwardly from said upstanding legs to said channel-shaped portion.

7. A side sill comprising a horizontal leg and a vertical leg, said vertical leg being gradually turned downwardly toward said horizontal leg at spaced points to provide sloping flanges and a horizontal flange connecting said sloping flanges, said horizontal flange being spaced from said horizontal leg.

8. A side sill comprising a horizontal leg and a vertical leg, said vertical leg being gradually turned downwardly toward said horizontal leg at spaced points to provide sloping flanges and a horizontal flange connecting said sloping flanges, said horizontal flange being spaced from said horizontal leg and being formed with a plurality of openings therein, for the purpose set forth.

9. A side sill comprising an intermediate channel-shaped portion having upper and lower flanges; end portions each embodying an upstanding leg extending above said channel-shaped portion, said upstanding legs being gradually turned downwardly to form a sloping flange of progressively increasing width, said flange being integral with the upper flange of said channel-shaped por tion.

FRANK DITCHFIELD. 

